


Butterflies and Fireflies

by MoonwalkingCrab



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kisses, Fluff, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 15:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7807171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonwalkingCrab/pseuds/MoonwalkingCrab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt fell for his roommate a long time ago, and he's planning on confessing... tomorrow. Always tomorrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterflies and Fireflies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pidgy_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pidgy_writes/gifts).



> For the absolutely amazing [Pidgy](http://pidgy-draws.tumblr.com/). One of the sweetest most amazingly positive and lovely people I know <3

If someone were to ask Matt when he first fell for his roommate he would have been hard pressed to say. Maybe it was the first time Techie fell asleep on his shoulder after a late night watching movies. Maybe it was seeing the look of intensity on his face when he was particularly engrossed in one of his coding projects. Or maybe it was the first day of university so many years ago when the skinny redhead had slid into the seat next to him, completely disarming Matt with the barest ghost of a smile.

All Matt knew was that he had fallen. Hard.

Sometimes he got the notion that Techie might just feel the same. Glances shared too long, hands brushing slightly too close, those little moments where he was sure Techie had something he wanted to say before he shook his head and retreated to his room. So many times Matt had considered just pulling Techie to him and kissing him senseless but something in the pit of his stomach always stopped him.

Techie was so smart, so funny when he got over his initial shyness, and in Matt’s opinion, the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He could almost drown in the electric blue of Techie’s eyes and his fingers itched to stroke the vibrant copper of his hair. He’d do anything to see Techie’s smile, rare as it was.

Matt leaned into the squashed cushions of their ratty couch and sighed, vowing to himself, like he did most nights, that tomorrow would be the day that he made his feelings known.

Always tomorrow.

It was still early, just getting dark and Techie had already retired for the evening to work. In his room was an elaborate desktop setup that Matt was partially convinced was hooked up to the security feeds of the entire city. He spent most of his nights in front of it, only emerging for bathroom breaks and, at Matt’s insistence, food. 

He was determined to take care of Techie, he was so patient when it came to Matt’s own problems, calming him down when his anger overtook. He’d stay up on the nights Matt couldn’t sleep, watching movies into the early hours of the morning, no matter how exhausted it made him. Matt doubted Techie knew exactly how big a difference he’d made in Matt’s life, how much his presence soothed the anger that always seemed to simmer below the surface. What he wouldn’t give to be able to articulate his feelings rather than being left mute every time Techie’s arm brushed his own. He would tell him someday; tomorrow, he promised himself.

Always tomorrow.

The dinner plates had been cleared away and Matt resigned himself to another night of watching television alone. He supposed he could go to the supermarket, it wasn’t too late and their fridge was completely empty. Glancing at his phone Matt frowned and rose to retrieve his charger. He shouldered into his room in the dim light, fishing the appliance from beside his bed and turned to return to the couch. Groceries could wait til tomorrow too.

Matt squinted behind his glasses as he left his room. The hallway was dark, it hadn’t been dark before, he was sure of that. He flicked the light switch several times to no avail.

“Ah shit.”

“Matt!” Techie’s voice sounded from the other side of the darkened apartment, “Did we blow a fuse? My computers are all down.”

Matt peered out the window into the increasing blackness. There were no streetlights, no lit up windows, nothing. The only light he could see was the silver sliver of the moon, just starting to rise.

“I think the whole grid is down. The entire city looks blacked out.” Matt pointed his phone towards Techie’s room, the screen casting barely enough light to see by. 

It was amazing how treacherous the familiar apartment became as he made his way back into the living room, swearing as his knee crashed into a side table he was sure hadn’t been there before. His hand patted at the familiar bulk of the couch and sat, so much for charging his phone. 

There was a soft creak of floorboards as Techie emerged from his room, also using his phone for light. “So… um.” He slid in beside Matt on the couch, “What do we do?”

Mentally Matt filed through the contents of their drawers and cupboards. They owned a single candle, a lavender scented monstrosity that Matt had only bought to appease his therapist. It gave him a headache, but if it meant light for Techie then he’d stumble his way to the bathroom to retrieve it.

“I can get that candle or something, I don’t think we have anything else.”

Techie’s voice was soft in the darkness, his thigh brushing against Matt’s as he turned towards him to place a soft hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine. Let’s just stay here for now.”

The touch was familiar and Matt could feel his stomach twist in a soft flutter as it always did. He shifted slightly, glad that Techie couldn’t see his increasingly red face. Techie’s own face was lit by the harsh light of his phone as he scrolled through, eyes scanning the screen. His pale eyebrows creased together and Matt heard a worried little huff of breath.

“They’re saying the power won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest!” Techie’s voice was tight and Matt watched his throat bob as he swallowed down, biting at his lower lip. “I thought maybe an hour or two at most!” His fist clenched in his lap and he shook his head, the curtain of his hair swinging down to cover his worried eyes. Matt leaned closer and reached his hand out, barely stopping himself before he brushed the hair away.

“Hey it’s okay, I’m sure your computers will be fine.”

Techie’s fingers clenched tight on Matt’s wrist, “It’s not about that,” he leaned closer, fingers looser now, “it’s just… I’m not great in the dark, Matt.” He hunched his shoulders, folding in on himself, moving to pull his hand away.

Without thinking Matt grabbed it, holding it tight between his palms, “That’s okay, I can get the candle for light and we can watch something on my laptop. Take your mind off things.” He squeezed gently at Techie’s hand, stomach tightening as he felt the other man squeeze back.

The candle gave out a surprising amount of light once Techie had ventured to the bathroom to retrieve it. Matt found himself appreciating the scent for a change. It seemed that when combined with the slight pressure of Techie’s thigh against his own it was downright relaxing. Maybe they should do this more often, it was almost romantic. 

His laptop lasted all of two hours before the screen winked out to leave them in the dark once more. Matt felt rather than heard Techie’s little sigh of resignation and frowned to himself. Maybe he should go find out what was wrong, try to fix it himself. He was an engineer, surely he could make it better. However that would mean moving away from the surprising warmth of Techie’s slim body. He really didn’t want to do that.

Techie sat up, stretching, “Maybe I should just head to bed, my phone is pretty much dead now but the light should last until I go sleep. Things should be fixed in the morning.” He smiled in the harsh glare of screen light, “Thanks, Matt, I know it’s pathetic, being scared of the dark at my age.”

Without thinking Matt’s hand found Techie’s thigh, squeezing tight, “Hey, it’s fine. You don’t complain when I ask you to get the spiders out of the shower.”

“That’s true.” Techie smiled again, practically glowing in the fluttering candlelight and Matt caught his breath, their faces were so close together he could feel the warmth of Techie’s skin, he suddenly felt so big, so clumsy and oh, his hand was still on Techie’s thigh. 

“Techie, I-” Matt had barely opened his mouth before Techie jumped up, one hand twisting in the hem of his shirt.

“Okay, goodnight!” Techie’s voice cracked as he headed towards his room, turning back to give Matt a little smile.

“Oh yeah, sure, goodnight.” Matt hoped the disappointment wasn’t too obvious in his voice. He sighed to himself and got up to head to his own room. It was still a few hours before he’d usually sleep and he supposed he had no choice but to lie in the dark and stare at the ceiling. He flopped onto his bed fully clothed and grabbed for his pillow. He’d been so close. Maybe his moment had passed, maybe that had been his only chance. He shoved his face into the comforting warmth of the pillow, fighting back the urge to scream.

No, he hadn’t missed his chance. He sat up, leaning his head against the cool glass of the window. There was always tomorrow, and he meant it this time.

The stars twinkled as Matt stared into the silent city wondering how many others were doing the exact same thing. A few cars passed by, their headlights seeming unnaturally bright in the blackness. The glow of candlelight flickered in a window across the street, shadows dancing against the walls, the silhouette of a couple locked in an embrace just visible against the blinds.

There was a creak of floorboards and a knock on Matt’s door, jolting him out of his daze. Techie sidled into his room, a shadow against shadows. Matt held his breath as he felt the slight weight of the other man settle onto the end of his bed. He wasn’t about to speak, he’d had this dream before, Techie coming to him, his room, his bed. Matt sat up, reaching out to the black silhouette, breaking the spell.

“We should go out.” Techie’s voice sounded almost strained, somewhat quashing the elation Matt had felt at the words.

“What do you mean?” Matt spoke quietly, almost a whisper. Surely after so many years of pining it wasn’t going to be as simple as that, was it?

“We need to get out of this apartment, that couple next door is at it again, I can hear them through the wall.”

Ah. So that was what Techie meant.

The couple next door were quite possibly the most volatile and stupidly in love people Matt had ever laid eyes on, their arguments rattled the wall between the two apartments and the sounds of their make up sex was enough to put images in Matt’s head that lasted for weeks. He shouldn’t have been surprised to be hearing them tonight. What else was there to do when the power was out? Lucky bastards.

He could feel Techie shifting next to him and stood, “Okay, I have an idea.” He held a hand out to help Techie up, forgetting that neither of them could see. His hand accidentally brushed across silky soft hair and he snatched his hand back as if the flame coloured locks could actually burn him.

“So what’s the idea?” Techie sounded a little short on breath, causing a flutter of panic to run up Matt’s spine, obviously the darkness was affecting him more than he let on.

“Oh...um… yeah. We should go down to the river, they have all those solar lamps along the footpath there. We can y’know, walk for a while, get away from the-” Matt’s mind helpfully supplied him with an image of himself and Techie doing exactly what the couple next door were up to and he choked out the last word, “-noise.”

“I’d like that.”

They scrambled in the dark, trying to locate shoes and keys while the moans through the wall got increasingly louder. They bumped together in the doorway, brushed hands on the bannister and tripped over each other’s feet as they stepped out onto the street. After probably the fourth muttered apology Matt was half considering throwing himself into the river when they reached it. His fists were clenched at his sides, despising his own clumsiness.

In the distance a line of twinkling blue lights became visible and Matt felt Techie grab onto his arm, “Look, we made it!” Matt couldn’t help but smile, even more so after Techie linked their arms together, visibly more relaxed now. 

Together they meandered along the pathway, arm in arm. Moths darted from lantern to lantern, a light breeze ruffling the grass, a pleasant coolness in the warm summer air. The only sound was the gentle rippling of the river alongside them. Matt breathed deep in the night air, more at peace than he had felt in a long while. He led Techie to a small white bench on the riverside.

The stars were brighter than Matt had ever seen them within the city, shimmering pinpricks in the velvet sky. He stretched his arms along the back of the bench and felt Techie scoot closer. Matt leaned his head back, staring upwards.

“It’s really pretty out here.”

“You’re right,” Techie was pressed against Matt’s side, “maybe the dark isn’t so bad after all.” He pointed across the river to where specks of light danced and flashed, “Look! Fireflies! I love fireflies.” His smile to Matt was brighter than the fireflies, brighter than the lanterns, brighter even than the stars. Matt felt a jolt through his stomach, this was the moment.

Bracing himself Matt slipped his arm around Techie’s shoulder, pulling him in close. He blinked up at Matt, the solar lights making his eyes bluer than ever. “Matt?” His lips were parted softly, eyes wide and hopeful.

Matt’s chest clenched, “Techie… I- I mean, the thing is.... I think… No. I know. I’m kinda… sorta… in love with you.” He closed his eyes, waiting for the backlash.

“Matt…” Techie’s voice was barely audible over the murmur of the wind, and suddenly his hands were on Matt’s face, fingers stroking across his cheek, pulling him forward to brush their lips together.

It was brief and soft, the barest flutter of pressure before Techie pulled back, a shy smile on his face. His eyes were cast downwards beneath pale eyelashes, “I… I feel the same way.”

It felt as if a dam had burst within Matt’s chest, joy bubbling forth like the river beside them. He wrapped Techie in his arms, pulling him in, too busy smiling to kiss properly. Techie laughs as they bump noses, pressing his forehead against Matt’s. “I wanted to say, I wasn’t sure.” Matt pressed forwards, kissing him properly this time, his glasses fogging up as they breathed together.

“Me too.”

There was a sound of voices nearby, the silhouette of another couple walking hand in hand. Techie laced his fingers with Matt’s and leaned down to rest his head on one broad shoulder. “We could head home now, if you wanted.”

“You sure? It’s nice out here.” Matt watched as a firefly landed on Techie’s hand, pulsing in golden flashes as it wandered along his fingers. “It has light.”

Techie smiled and snuggled in closer, “Yes, but we have a candle.”

“You’re right, we do.” Matt leaned back on the bench, gently stroking a hand through Techie’s hair. He made a note to himself to thank his therapist for the suggestion as Techie pulled him downwards in a deep kiss.

Tomorrow, he thought, he’d thank her tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://moonwalkingcrab.tumblr.com/).


End file.
